Hackers sought to discredit Russian opposition leader: researchers

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny attends a protests against decision by authorities to demolish soviet five-storey houses in Moscow, Russia, May 14, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

TORONTO/MOSCOW: Hackers sought to discredit leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny in a disinformation campaign that implied he was working with a US government group, Canadian cyber researchers said. 

That effort, which took place in October 2016, was part of a cyber spying operation with more than 200 targets in 39 countries, according to an online report published by Citizen Lab, an institute at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs.